Tropheryma
Whippelii - General Overview
Agron Plevneshi

Tropheryma whippelii (Tw) is a gram-positive bacterium,
which has only recently been cultured and has been propagated
in deactivated macrophages. On the basis of its 16S ribosomal
RNA (rRNA) gene sequence, it is related to the group B actinomycetes
and the family Cellulomonadaceaea.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used to identify
Tw DNA in the intestinal tissue, peripheral blood, and cerebrospinal
fluid of infected people. Tropheryma whippelii causes
a rare disease called Whipple's disease, after the pathologist
George Hoyt Whipple, who described it for the first time in
1907. The symptoms of this disease are malabsorption, weight
loss, arthralgia, fevers, and abdominal pain. Any organ system
can be affected, including the heart, lungs, skin, joints,
and central nervous system. This disease can be fatal if not
adequately treated with antibiotics. Fatality is most often
related to a relapse in the nervous system which may occur
months or years after successful treatment with antibiotics.